The Simple Mind is a newsletter to help you reduce overthinking and boost self-confidence.

You know that friend’s WhatsApp message pinned at the top of your convos? 

You care about it, want to respond with all your attention but somehow it stays there for days. 

I’ve pinned you guys.

I’ve been wanting to write this edition since the beginning of the year and couldn’t get myself to do it. I’ve come up with plenty of excuses. 

The only true one was plain and simple: I had no clue what to write. Ironic when anyone around me could confirm they’ve never seen me with nothing left to say.

My mind hasn’t been clear lately. I’ve gone through big changes, which left me with important things to reflect on, and little time for reflection. 

I guess the biggest thing is, I hit pause on entrepreneurship. 

I’ve just started a new role in corporate which I am oh so excited about. I’m adjusting to a new cadence.

Leaving my company behind for an exciting role was surprisingly easy. Well, once I accepted, a break was needed. 

So this week, I want to share some thoughts on the cycles we experience and how sometimes we need to plain and simply stop, to come back stronger.

Love lasts three years

There is a French book called “love lasts three years”. I find many things work in this three years cycles. 

Honey moon. New normal. Itchy feet. 
Repeat. 

I’ve watched expat go through that dance. I’ve experienced it after three years at Airbnb, wanting to launch my business. And now again, after three years of entrepreneurship, craving a change.  

For the past year, I’ve had Itchy feet. 

I couldn’t make sense of it though. I worked so hard on building my business, and yes it was not perfect, far from it.  But how could I no longer enjoy something a past version of me wanted so bad? 

How can you walk away from your vision ? 

I struggled to find a way forward. No option seemed good enough, the current situation either. I wasn’t really open to change, nothing made me genuinely excited, no potential, nor the reality.  

I was itching; with no honey moon in sight. Discomfort only. 

A rough, yet necessary step. Eventually so much discomfort breaks you into giving up. 

So I gave up. Or rather, in. I gave in. I decided the discomfort was too pricey and I needed to let go of my grip. Most of my tensions came from resisting what was.

I had to accept the reality did not live up to my expectations, and some of my expectations had changed. 

I opened up to new possibilities, including leaving my business on the side. At that moment a honey moon popped on the horizon. I jumped right in, with ease. 

In hindsight, it was impossible to  see the honey moon when I was holding on so much to my business and a past vision. It’s like covering your eyes, complaining you can’t see the way forward. 

Sometimes all you need is to stop

Even if it’s just for a little while. A pause is necessary if you want to enter a new cycle.

I know breaks do not always seem like an option. More often than not though we confuse not available, with not allowing ourselves. 

I am allowing myself a break. 

A long one from entrepreneurship, jumping with all my enthusiasm into this new corporate journey. Fully aware, the nudge to create will knock again.

A short one from writing, until I am up to speed in my new role, and my creativity returns. 

It can be harder to take a break than to push through

In 2024, the favorite, most impactful thing I built was this newsletter, and I am incredibly grateful to you for trusting me with your precious inbox time. 

So I’d rather  not send anything than not provide value to you. Logic says, only write when you have bandwidth and a good topic to share. 

Yet, part of me felt guilty. I’ve heard it many times, if you stop posting you lose readers. You also create a precedent, and are more likely to be inconsistent. Which to some extent is true. 

I’d pressure myself to write, call myself lazy, indulge in negative self talk and force myself to produce something mediocre. For what ? In the end I never hit send. 

The hard way was not the best way. 

I think sometimes the lazy option is the right one. Rest is productive, breaks are productive. But there’s a catch, it’s only productive if we remove the pressure of it. 

So may this edition, not just be about me rambling on why I did not write lately, and my new corporate life but rather be a kind reminder that sometimes you need a break. Sometimes you need to remove the pressure to do do do, so you can focus on others things (hello new job) and leave room for new obsessions and idea. 

My latest obsession

I’ve started getting obsessed with the many paradoxes (or tension), we arbitrate daily.

The tension between the necessity of a break, and the necessity to push through to accomplish things is one of them. 

Should you rest when you feel the need of a break or should you push through ? Do you actually need to rest, or are you being lazy? Do you actually need to push through, or are self bullying ? 

We are bombarded with this kind of tension in everything we do. 

This is where we, overthinkers, struggle. An overload of options and no clear system to answer these questions correctly. 

The only answer does not seem helpful: It depends on the situation. 

We feel pulled in two different directions, unable to pick the side that’s best for us. Often ending up, overthinking leading to a bad decision or an in between that clearly does not make us happy. 

What’s next 

I am ramping up in my new job at Airbnb, and taking the next couple weeks to focus on just that (and sleep). This means you won’t hear from me until end of March. 

Will the simple mind change ? Kinda. 

The simple mind will focus on the same,  tips for overthinkers, debunking stories we tell ourselves and of course my latest obsession these paradoxes we let stretch us thin.

The only difference: I want to broaden up what we talk about here. Not limit it to overthinking and confidence at work but bring in more personal topics around mindset and overthinking. 

I am genuinely excited for what’s to come, I cannot wait to embark you on this next mindset journey. 

As always, thank you for reading, 

Orianne 

If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Orianne, I share weekly tools to help you reduce overthinking and boost your self-confidence.